With several
concerns on my mind of very different character, I write to you in
hopes of advice, guidance, and general understanding. First and
foremost, I feel it necessary to give you a bit of background
information about myself, understanding that one cannot truly know
his neighbor’s strife if he does not know his neighbor. I am a
nineteen-year-old young lady from a small town near the border of New
York state. I have two extremely hard-working parents (whom are
still happily married), and two older brothers, both of whom have
graduated from prestigious universities. I am currently attending
the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB) as a sophomore,
studying political science. I am a Christian (Presbyterian),
consider myself of a moderate political affiliation, and am, like the
rest of my family, very hard-working.

I have held
different jobs steadily since age fifteen (this summer holding down
three jobs successfully), all extremely different. During this
summer, I have worked as a cashier at a Byrne Dairy location (a local
gas station/dairy/convenience store/grocery store chain), as the
Summer Youth Recreation Coordinator for my church (I plan events for
teenagers), and as a waitress in an Authentic Mexican Restaurant
(where I am lucky enough to be surrounded by culture and expand my
language skills daily). I receive different wages at each job. I
have not kept track of my earnings-to-date (of all of my jobs total
in the past), as I would never imagine needing such totals. However,
I have felt, for a very long time, a certain frustration each time I
receive a paycheck from whichever job I am currently working; I am
sure that being a woman of the people, you are familiar with this
impediment; the frustration that I mention deals with Social Security
Deductions and taxes.

Unlike several
other people, I do not write to you to simply complain about the loss
of money and blame the government for my skinnier wallet; I am truly
interested to see exactly which percents of my deductions go to what,
and what I am fueling in the government. You see, my frustrations
lie in the fact that I come into daily contact with hundreds of
people at my jobs, and at my school; I cannot tell you how many of
these people seem to be using the government to their financial
advantage. As a very diligent person, I am extremely annoyed at this
misuse of government (in turn, my) funds.

For instance, when
I work at Byrne Dairy, I constantly come into contact with people
using EBT Benefits and W.I.C. Checks. Do not misunderstand me, I am
not against helping those out who need it, I am in fact a great
supporter of helping those in need. Nevertheless, I do have a
difficult time serving people who use their EBT cards to purchase
items that are not pertinent to survival. I was never trained that
certain items may not be bought with EBT cards, so I have never
questioned a customer’s purchase with this card; I have had people
buying alcohol, cigarettes, junk food, bags of ice, novelty items,
and unnecessary groceries with these cards. If I was, in fact, wrong
to sell these items to those paying with their Benefits card, then I
have no gripes with the government’s system in that aspect. In
addition to this concern, I am also concerned with the customers
yielding W.I.C. checks and EBT cards; in several cases, the customers
will open a wallet full of hundreds of dollars in cash, and pay for
several other things with said cash; if the person has the cash in
the first place, why are they receiving government aid?

I understand that
there are certainly different cases with every person and every
situation, but many times, I see the same people using government aid
who, in my best judgment, truly do not need it. My mother is a woman
who is supposed to be claiming Social Security benefits due to a
severe disability, but she still works. She took two years off on
disability, but realized that although her doctors had advised her to
work no longer, she felt selfish taking other peoples’ money, and
missed her job as a language teacher. As I before related, she is,
against doctor’s wishes, working, in chronic pain. Additionally,
my father is a recreational and musical therapist for New York State;
he is in daily contact with mentally and physically challenged
persons, many of whom can not work, and many of whom long to be able
to have the pleasure of having their own job, making their own money.
Thirdly, I suffer from severe endometriosis and live in chronic pain
myself; I have been operated on twice, and still have not found the
right solution for my pain. However, I have learned that life is
much too short to dwell on things like pain; I do not have enough
years offered to me to waste time not experiencing all that I can.
So, I work…..and I study…….and I live my life as much as I can!

Being aware that
every person has a different story and is placed in a different
situation, I have plenty of sympathy for those who cannot work due to
physical or mental restrictions. However, this sentiment and
understanding has only exacerbated my anger toward those who misuse
programs such as Social Security, W.I.C., and N.Y.S. benefits. If
there was an actual misuse of these governmental aid programs, all I
can do to offer my opinion would be to suggest treating these
programs with more care; in my hometown, there is a shelter of small
apartments that is offered to homeless families or people “trying
to get back onto their feet.” I have a great respect for this
organization, as I learned about it through my church, which pays for
two of the apartments there. The interesting thing about this place
is that the people who live there get food, clothing, and other
necessary living items, but they only get to stay in the apartments
for a certain amount of time, or until they can get a job and a place
to live. This system helps those in need, but also motivates them to
help themselves in life- if the person(s) cannot do what they need to
do to acquire an occupation and a place of residence, they are not
allowed to just stay in the apartments and live off of others; the
shelter offers people things in time of need, and as soon as it seems
as though the person is ready to fly the nest, they are encouraged to
make their own way in life.